Production of high-octane gasoline via hydrodeoxygenation of sorbitol over palladium-based bimetallic catalysts

A methodology for the synthesis of gasoline-range fuels from carbon neutral resources is introduced. Sorbitol, a sugar-based compound, was employed as a raw material because the compound is readily obtained from cellulose. Gasoline-range hydrocarbons were produced via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) on zirconium phosphate-supported Pd-bimetallic (Pt−Pd, Ru−Pd, Ni−Pd, Fe−Pd, Co−Pd, W−Pd) catalysts. Among the tested catalysts, the bimetallic W−Pd/ZrP catalyst exhibited the highest yield of gasoline products, peaking at ∼70%. However, with the bimetallic Fe−Pd and Co−Pd catalysts, high-octane gasoline products were made (research octane number (RON) of the products was higher than 100). The Fe−Pd catalyst also showed the highest initial activity for the HDO of sorbitol. This study demonstrates that HDO in the Pd-system is a promising option to produce high-quality gasoline-range hydrocarbons from lignocellulosic biomass.